There requires to be more clarity around SWMS documents and their use, and we ‘d like to supply that. Whether you utilize them in high-risk construction or in other places, they can be one of your most reliable and effective control procedures, and when you do SWMSs well, nearly whatever else you do will tend to follow.

Let’s quickly take a look at the following:

What they are.
Why are they main to your WHS or OH&S system.
How they are various from a J.S.A. and S.O.P
. What must an SWMS consist of?
Who is accountable?
The use of SWMSs in high-risk building and construction.
When they’re asked for elsewhere.
Some market package and system options.
WHAT IS A SWMS?
A Safe Work Approach Declaration (SWMS) is a file that describes how specific workplace activities are to be carried out. The file determines:

The actions being satisfied.
Associated dangers,
The risks they produce, and
How to manage those threats.
WHY ARE SWMS CENTRAL TO YOUR WHS SYSTEM?
There are two reasons that SWMS documents are central to your system. In certain instances, they are needed. They are efficient, effective and practical in their application.

An SWMS is required whenever high-risk building work is carried out (as specified by the WHS. Act, which we’ll explain soon). This suggests the Person Carrying out an Organization or Undertaking (the PCBU) need to ensure the preparation, following, and retention of these SWMS and their routine and systematic review.

SWMSs are likewise one of the most effective of all control steps. They are the most typical and prominent of administrative controls. When their usage becomes a work-culture centrepiece, they can powerfully make it possible for and proof your task of care observance and due diligence compliance.

Enabling yourself a little creative imagination, consider how you manage dangers as being like strapping on a bulletproof vest. The majority of your WHS. or OH&S danger controls are like the padding and absorption features of the vest. However, your Safe Work Approach Statements (SWMS) resemble those velcro straps that hold the vest comfortably and efficiently in place.

However they can be exaggerated. More on that quickly.

HOW IS A SWMS DIFFERENT FROM A J.S.A. OR S.O.P.?
A Task Security Analysis (J.S.A.) and a Safe Operating Treatment (S.O.P.) are more concentrated than a SWMS. They focus on separated jobs and procedures. An SWMS is different due to the fact that:

It is broader in its treatment of activities,
It is extremely focused on identifying and keeping track of control measures.
It can cover both particular activities as well as combination and complex activities (which most high-risk building work activities are).
WHAT MUST AN SWMS INCLUDE?
Safe Work Approach Statements (SWMS) are simply one of different readily available danger control measures. When utilized efficiently, they bring structure and stability to other WHS.

Like straps on a bulletproof vest, they help other controls work and empower the people who use them. A safe work method declaration does this by supplying the required info, directions, and a way of tape-recording actions in a predictable and fuss-free format.

Determine the High-Risk Building And Construction Work (HRCW) function – if it is one.
Determine hazards and unsafe work practices.
Information the best control measures, as well as backup controls.
Describe what goes into the implementation of risk management plans.
Detail the individual or business doing the work and the person responsible.
At a building and construction job, detail the principal contractor, worksite address, the date of preparation and when offered to the principal professional.
Note the names of workers spoken with, the dates and the signatures.
Show any evaluation date and summarise any modifications made.
SWMS danger control methods, based on the hierarchy of control, generally seek to:.

Remove risks (maybe by utilizing engineering controls),.
Minimize them (for instance, by producing traffic passages),.
Administratively minimise them (e.g. by SWMS) and/or.
Recommend Personal Protective Devices (PPE).
A well-designed SWMS design template is simple to prepare, uncomplicated for appropriate workers to implement, and will make it possible for an efficient and effective review procedure. That is what our SWMS design templates do.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?
When a safe work method statement is needed, the PCBU needs to prepare it; where there is more than one PBCU, or the work costs $250,000 or more, a Principal Professional (PC) is designated. This person is then responsible for collecting, evaluating, monitoring and examining any SWMS in place.

A PC and PCBU can hand over processes and work activities, BUT the responsibility for SWMS quality and execution remains with them.

The Principal Professional (or PCBU where there is not a P.C.) is responsible for:.

Preparing SWMS documents prior to work starts,.
Ensuring anyones included fulfil their duties consistently,.
Recognizing and managing threats and risks as per the document, and.
Evaluating and changing the SWMS for continuous efficiency with time (Note: workers must be spoken with – including professionals and subcontractors).
SAFE WORK TECHNIQUE STATEMENTS AND HIGH-RISK CONSTRUCTION WORK (HRCW).
Both Australia’s Work Health and Safety Laws (2011) and the Design WHS Regulations (last upgraded in 2022) require using SWMS files for a range of high-risk building work activities. Specifically, Policy 291 details 19 High-Risk Classification activities and an SWMS should be prepared prior to any such work is undertaken.

You can follow the Guideline 291 link to see the specific list, but for ease of understanding, we’ll summarise them as follows.

WHAT ACTIVITIES ARE CONSIDERED HIGH-RISK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION WORK?
There are 19 activities categorized as high-risk building work (HRCW), and they all include threats and threats with considerable capacity for considerable damage. For clearness, we lower this 19-item list into five threat groupings. They are activities that:.

It may result in falling,.
May develop due to proximity (or being close to something/someone),.
Result from using a powered mobile plant, particular devices or materials,.
Prevail when handling specific structures and services, and.
Take place in a variety of environmental specifics.
To break this down more specifically, these 5 activity groups involve the following circumstances: an SWMS is needed in such scenarios:.

When there is a risk of an individual falling more than 2 metres or falling into a trench or shaft of excavated depth greater than 1.5 m.
If somebody could drown by falling under a liquid, a structural collapse or as a result of diving work.
Where structural alterations are used to prevent a collapse.
Wherever a tunnel is involved.
When powered mobile plant work is being done or the plant is being moved.
If rail traffic or neighboring roadway users could be damaged.
Whenever asbestos is being disturbed or eliminated.
If tilt-up or precast concrete work is being done.
Wherever explosives are used or demolition work is being conducted.
When work happens on or near chemical, fuel or refrigerant lines, energised electrical services, pressurised gas circulation mains, piping or telecommunications towers.
If a workspace might have an infected or combustible environment, artificial temperature level extremes or a confined area.
A safe work technique statement must be maintained in these recommended situations. The SWMS can be specific to each high-risk building and construction work item or encompass numerous products in a single SWMS. The most essential thing to keep in mind is that these threats are determined, and the risks are controlled.

If you wish to see the detailed list, follow this Policy 291 link.

WHAT IF YOU’RE REQUESTED A SWMS FOR ANOTHER ACTIVITY?
It’s not uncommon for customers to state separate SWMS that surpass the legal minimums for building and construction tasks – and it doesn’t matter whether the tender process is open, worked out, selective or staged. These remarkable expectations can consist of ask for safe work method declarations beyond the specified high-risk building and construction work activities. We know from discussions with our consumers that this is significantly taking place and that there requires to be more clarity around the problem.

These expectations and confusion aren’t assisted by SWMS design template providers that do not tell you their extra offerings are not needed or who oversell with needless SWMS files. Both are practices we do refrain from doing.

We always inform our clients that there are 2 forms of compliance; what is lawfully needed and what your customers expect. Both are really real and pertinent to win work!

WHEN CUSTOMERS REQUEST MORE.
Technically, your customer can be as impractical as they like. They’re paying for the work, so they can stipulate whatever control determines they desire. Theoretically, they can even require a SWMS for taking a dump (and no, we’re not speaking about rubbish removal). Our list of available design templates surpasses the initial 19 HRCW activities.

When the marketplace demands extra SWMS or industry control measures modification, we generally quickly deal with the requirement. At other times we have actually helped them use a generic SWMS design template to meet the need.

There have also been times when we have coached our customers on challenging the tender requirement, and in some cases, modifications result. In some cases it is an honest error by an overzealous tender author, and when the proposed steps are politely questioned, they are withdrawn. Numerous do not comprehend the guidelines and understand there are less tiresome techniques of managing risks to health and wellness.

Here, as constantly, we recommend you talk with us. Call 1800 304 336 to enjoy greater clarity and efficiency in your purchase journey.

An SWMS is required whenever high-risk construction work is performed (as defined by the WHS. Safe Work Approach Statements (SWMS) are just one of various available risk control measures. Like straps on a bulletproof vest, they assist other controls work and empower the people who use them. The SWMS can be specific to each high-risk building work product or include lots of products in a single SWMS. These amazing expectations can include demands for safe work method declarations beyond the stipulated high-risk construction work activities.
For more information, contact:Occupational Safety SolutionsLevel 3/55 Pyrmont Bridge Rd, Pyrmont NSW 20091800 304 336www.occupational-safety.com.au